What Almost Happened
by Sapphire Jade Eyes
Summary: Jesse saves the day, but Beca saves him in a way as well. Earlier first kiss/replacement for the "That's because you don't know Becky like I do," scene. Story much better than summary. Please R&R. Rated T because of what would have happened if Jesse hadn't walked in, mild swearing and slight violence.


**What Almost Happened**

Jesse was mad. No, scratch that, he was absolutely livid, for there were two things bothering the young Treblemaker. The first was that he just couldn't understand why Beca refused to open up to him. Just when Jesse thought he had finally broken down all of her walls, she got scared and threw up another one.

Jesse was also mad at himself. What was so special about Beca that every smile, every word, every glance made him feel like the clouds had parted and an angel had floated down from above? Why was it that every time he heard Beca sing he could feel himself melt a little bit more? And why was it that when Beca pulled away, got scared and withdrew into her shell; it felt like he'd been run through with a knife?

Jesse had even had to change shifts at the radio station. He couldn't bear it to be that close to her, because he knew that although the time they spent meant everything to him, it meant nothing to her. In fact, today was going to be the first time in weeks that their shifts had been the same. Which was why Jesse found himself standing outside the radio station door, trying to motivate himself to enter. That was when he had heard the scream.

Instantly, he threw open the door and ran in, not sure what he was going to find but assuming Beca had just fallen off a ladder when stacking CD's. Jesse couldn't have been more wrong.

He entered the studio to find Beca pushed up against the wall, tears streaming down her face, and Luke holding her there, kissing her roughly.

Jesse had thought he was mad before. He had no idea what mad meant until that moment. Seeing red, Jesse crossed the room quickly, turned Luke to face him and punched him square in the face. Hard. Luke's head snapped back and he collapsed, knocked out cold, as blood began to drip from his nose.

Beca's eyes widened. Jesse was not a violent person. In fact, Beca didn't remember ever seeing Jesse hurt anybody, ever. She also realized rather quickly that Jesse was more than prepared to kill Luke, the state he was in, and if he did any worse than he had already done, Jesse would regret it once he calmed down.

Beca watched in horror as Jesse put his right arm on Luke's chest and backed him up against the far wall, well away from her.

"I am going to kill you, you bastard!" Jesse growled, drawing his fist back to punch Luke again. Seeing her chance, Beca leapt forward and grabbed Jesse's arm, holding it back. Surprised by just how strong he was when he wanted to be, she almost lost her grip, but managed to just hold him back.

"Jesse, don't, he's not worth it. Just leave it!" Beca shouted, but she didn't seem to be doing much.

"He tried to… he actually… how can you be so calm, Beca?" Jesse asked, turning to face Beca, hatred for Luke boiling in his eyes.

"I'm not calm, believe me, I'm not, but you'll get thrown in jail if you do anything else," She explained, but her words didn't deter him.

"If I hadn't heard you scream, Beca-" Jesse broke off, tears filling his eyes, threatening to spill over. Beca was surprised by how much it hurt her to see him upset. She realized that she was used to Jesse's constant smile and dorky jokes.

"Look at me, Jesse," She ordered, and when he ignored her, she repeated, "Jesse, look at me," Slowly, he turned to face her.

"I'm right here. I'm fine. I'm safe. I'm alright," Beca repeated, cradling his face in her hands, until Jesse dropped his hand to his side and sat, leaning against the wall. Beca sat next him, and was surprised when Jesse put his arm around her and pulled her close to him. Normally Beca would pull away quickly, but after what she had seen today, she guessed that Jesse just needed to hold her. She also knew that Jesse would sooner throw himself off of a rooftop than hurt her, so Beca let him cradle her against his chest.

The two stayed like that for an hour, until Jesse finally spoke.

"You know, I should really be the one comforting you," He said apologetically.

"Don't worry, you did rescue me today. Thanks to you, I avoided anything traumatizing," Beca replied truthfully. She knew that what Jesse had almost done was getting to him now that he had calmed down.

"Beca," Jesse said as he stood rather suddenly.

"Yeah?" She asked hurrying to follow suite.

"Thank you for stopping me. I was prepared to- And if I had- I wouldn't be able to live with myself. You saved me today as much as I saved you," Jesse said, looking down at his converse sneakers.

"Jesse," Beca said hesitantly, not sure if she was doing this the right way. Jesse looked at her questioningly. Taking a deep breath, she tried to calm her nerves and leaned forward to touch her lips to his.

At first Jesse's reaction was one of surprise. Then he reacted to the kiss, reaching out and pulling Beca closer to him. She reached her hands up and tangled them in his hair, and Jesse wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close.

When they parted for breath, Beca looked up at him nervously.

"Did I do something wrong?" She asked nervously.

Surprise flashed across Jesse's face.

"Haven't you done this before?" He asked in shock. Beca shook her head uneasily. At first Jesse's face looked confused, but then it cleared and he beamed at her, a smile lighting up his face.

"What's so great?" She asked irritably, going back to anger and sarcasm as she often did when she was embarrassed. Jesse smiled again.

"I was your first kiss," He said happily.

"You're such a weirdo," Beca sighed, leaning in to kiss him again.


End file.
